There are numerous devices for facilitating disabled drivers or passengers of a motor vehicle to transport a wheelchair with the vehicle and to take the wheelchair in and out of the vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,563 discloses a sophisticated apparatus for transportation of a foldable wheel chair from the luggage compartment of a car to a position beside the front door of the car such that a disabled driver would be able to unfold the wheelchair and shift himself from the motor car onto the wheel chair without help of others. All mechanical parts needed for handling the wheel chair are disposed within the luggage compartment, such that the exterior appearance and the allover shape and properties of the car would not be changed. Further, the whole interior of the passenger compartment remains free for use.
This apparatus is disposed in the luggage compartment together with the collapsed wheelchair laid aside. Thus, it is suitable for use in so called “station wagon” or “estate” car where the wheelchair can be stored in horizontal position. The apparatus comprises three mechanisms and motor drives to perform the transportation:                an L-shaped lever mounted with one end on a vertical rotary drive on the floor of the luggage compartment for rotation in horizontal plane;        a pivotal joint on the other end of the L-shaped lever with a linear drive for pivoting the joint around a horizontal axis; and        a telescoping lever with a telescoping drive, the telescoping lever being mounted by an end thereof to the pivotal joint at an angle with respect to the horizontal axis of the latter, and having a grip for the wheelchair at the other end.        
An additional drive is used for automatic lifting and lowering the lid of the luggage compartment.
The L-shaped lever performs rotation by 270° which requires the same space along the car's axis as perpendicular to it. Also, the L-shaped lever and the pivotal joint with its linear drive must be disposed clear above the threshold of the luggage trunk. That is why such apparatus can be mounted in spacious trunks with enough vertical clearance between the threshold and the closed lid.
An apparatus based on this patent but with modified construction has been on the market. In the modification, the single telescoping lever has been replaced by a two-arm articulated lever with two linear drives. The L-shaped lever rotates in an inclined plane in order to pass over the trunk threshold but the arrangement still requires a relatively deep trunk.